Counter Force : Dawn Patrol of Bird-Watchers Flocks Inland for Winter Survey of Species, Threats to Habitats

A cadre of Orange County’s most committed bird-watchers convened beforedawn Sunday and agreed on their mission: to spot a clay-colored sparrow, an unspectacular little gray, brown and black bird that, to the uninitiated, is barely distinguishable from its feathered relatives.

Yet, despite its unassuming appearance, the sparrow would be a noteworthy find. It normally resides in northern areas of the Midwest and in Canada, and when it migrates it heads due south to Mexico and Central America, rarely venturing as far west as California.

“It’s really a good bird for this area,” explained Curtis Johnson, a La Palma accountant and lifelong bird-watcher who was in charge of the search group at Irvine Park.

Armed with binoculars and Audubon bird guides, Johnson and six other birders fanned out through the park. Within hours they spotted their quarry.

“I think I have it,” one of the birders called out at 9:26 a.m. “He’s in the scope.”

Members of the Irvine Park contingent peered through the high-powered scope one at a time to confirm the finding. Then they spread out again, logging an array of falcons, sparrows, bluebirds and other avians as part of the National Audubon Society’s annual winter count. Each year, the society picks three weekends in December and January to sight birds across the country, aiding conservationists’ efforts to track their range and frequency.

About 80 members of the society’s Sea & Sage Chapter, working in 15 separate groups, logged more than 100 species in the inland part of Orange County on Sunday. A separate coastal count is set for Dec. 31 and will log waterfowl and other birds spotted near the ocean.

The two counts last year produced sightings of 362 species of birds, 161 of them during the inland count. By Sunday afternoon, the count appeared to rival the pace of last year’s record-setting total, and birders who met for lunch cheerfully reviewed the early returns.

“We sound real good,” said count coordinator Gerald Tolman. “We may do even better than last year because they’re getting some very unusual sightings.”

In addition to the clay-colored sparrow, count participants spotted a Lucy’s warbler and a Scott’s oriole, both rare for this part of the country. A type of falcon known as a merlin whistled through Irvine Park early Sunday, and birders noted that it too was a “good bird,” their synonym for a rare sighting.

But participants in the day’s event did not rest on their morning laurels. Breaking off from a hasty McDonald’s lunch, Tolman and a group of birders headed out to track down a Sprague’s pipit, an elusive bird that is hard to identify, partly because it skitters along the ground when approached.

Despite the impressive morning, Tolman and others cautioned that an increasing number of birds recorded in the Orange County counts does not mean that more bird species are flourishing in the area. Rather, they said, it suggests that better-organized count efforts are identifying more of the creatures through improved spotting techniques and relentless pursuit.

As they filtered through Irvine Park, Johnson and his fellow birders would cautiously approach a stand of bushes or a tree bustling with life. Setting up their tripods a comfortable distance away, they would then begin “pishing”: making a hissing noise that draws birds out.

Binoculars would quickly go up and birders would call out names of the species spotted. Sightings were jotted in notebooks, and unusual finds were recorded in great detail.

Practice and coordination make it possible to identify many species in a single day, but Audubon Society officials warn that the county’s bird-stock probably is in decline. While some birds--common house sparrows, for instance--might be increasing in Orange County, most field species are falling off, victims of the county’s rampant development.

Ron Carter, a marketing director from Laguna Beach, pointed to a row of houses overlooking Irvine Park from a ridgeline to its west.

“When they build like this,” he said, “it drives the voles and the mice out of an area. That’s the owls’ food, so when they’re gone, the owls have to move on, too.”

This year’s owl count, which birders tackled in a flashlight-guided trek beginning at 4 a.m. Sunday, appeared to confirm Carter’s fears. Birders saw just two owls, a horned owl and a barn owl, and they heard a screech owl but could not locate it.

“It used to be that you’d see an owl on every fifth pole along Santiago Canyon Road,” said Tom Bishop, a Placentia geophysicist. “This morning we hardly saw any.”

Birders also failed in their quest to spot a field sparrow, which was sighted in Irvine Park recently but is extremely rare in this area.

If birding can be tinged with disappointment, however, it barely shows in the faces of the counters. Most said they viewed the day as a ringing success, and all praised their avocation with evangelical fervor.

“It gets you outdoors and in the clean air, and it’s something you can enjoy while contributing to society rather than taking away, since you don’t hunt or kill anything,” Jay Fuhrman of Irvine said. “It’s definitely raised my sensitivity and awareness of the environment.”

And even without ever firing a shot, enthusiasts say they get the thrill of the hunt.

“To some people, all these damn sparrows really look alike,” Johnson said as members of the Irvine Park crew happily confirmed their clay-colored sparrow sighting. “But I had to find this bird or not even show up tonight for the meeting. I might as well have kept driving off into the sunset.”